Godzilla 2014 review Warning: SPOILERS

Hello, deviantart. As promised, I'd write a Godzilla 2014 review this month, since I"m sure most people have seen the film. But for those who haven't, please don't read this because spoilers are ahead of you.

Let me start off by saying, this is my favorite film of 2014 thus far. Everything from the writing to the pacing is exactly what I was looking forward to, and it did not disappoint in the absolute least.

The story: 15 years after his wife Sandra (Juliette Binoche) was killed during a radiation leak, nuclear power plant worker Joe Brody (Bryan Cranston) still searches for the cause. His son Ford (Aaron Taylor Johnson) is now a solider that disposes bombs and has returned to his home to his wife Elle (Elizabeth Olsen) and their son Sam (Carson Bolde). His time at home is short lived, however, since he has to go to Japan to get his father out of jail after being arrested for trespassing. There, the two discover what really killed Sandra: a monster called MUTO, which stands for Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism, which has been under study by Dr. Ishiro Serizawa (Ken Watanabe) and his assistant  Dr. Vivienne Graham (Sally Hawkins). Joe is killed by its attack and Ford heads back to San Francisco where the monster attacks, but not before confronting Godzilla himself shortly in Hawaii. The film then carries on as Ford tries to get back home, but ends up back in the army, to help destroy the MUTO and its female mate. A nuclear warhead is approved by Adm. William Stenz (David Strathairn) to destroy the monsters, and two head to the city, but one is consumed by the female MUTO. This leads to the final confrontation in San Francisco where the monsters battle it out, which also has the MUTO eggs being destroyed by Ford and the others. The end result has Ford reuniting with his family and Godzilla, after being seemingly killed, roars in victory and returns to the sea.

The acting: This seems to have divided some fans. A good majority agree that Watanabe and Cranston were brilliant usual, but the others were half in half. I disagree with that, actually, except with Ken and Bryan, who were fantastic. I thought all the actors did a good job in this. Aaron was really good in his scenes, especially with Bryan. He had a lot of emotional parts with mostly his on screen family, namely with Elizabeth. Olsen, despite having limited screen time, was great. I felt the emotion both Aaron and Elizabeth showed in their scenes, whether they were together or apart. Binoche is only in the begging in the film, but does well with her part. Hawkins and Strathairn were good too, even if they didn't have big of roles, but they were necessary as well. All in all, the cast was great, and I enjoyed them all.

The writing: This is where the film does do well in. It had at least four contributions, but all work together. The emotion is really there with the characters, namely with our central characters. I felt for the characters, and didn't want to see anything bad happen to them. The pacing, which was largely inspired by the first Jaws film, was another highlight. I know a lot of people complain that Godzilla has limited screen time, but this happened in  most of the previous films, and in others like the shark in Jaws or the T Rex in Jurassic Park. They did a good job leading up to him, and his reveal is fantastic. The cut aways didn't bother me too much, mainly because we did get to see the fight regardless.

The monsters: I've already said it before, but I might as well say it again: Godzilla has never looked better. The design, which Toho helped with, was great. You can tell it does have some influence from the other previous ones. Also, when he uses his atomic breath is one of the highlights of the film, especially when he finishes the female MUTO. Speaking of which, they were designed fantastically as well. They, much like Godzilla, did seem inspired by other monsters, and not just Toho ones as well, as it looks like Cloverfield has some influence, especially in the legs. The fighting was good as well, as it seemed more animalistic the the others. This is a touch I found interesting, as it made it seem like these were natural animals fighting, which the original films couldn't do, since they were obviously guys in suits.

Well, that's the review. As you can tell, I really loved this movie. Gareth, even though this was his big screen debut, did a fantastic job. I can tell he is a Godzilla fan, like us, and did a good job in paying tribute to the franchise. And yes, I know he's directing the Star Wars spin-off, and I wish him the best of luck. Other then him, the writing and actors were all fantastic. The monsters were really nice to see on the big screen, and their fight was handled nicely. All in all, this was a fantastic movie, and I can't wait to get it on DVD, and I do recommend it to anyone, Godzilla fan or not. It's not perfect, but it owes a lot of respect to the franchise and is a good movie overall.
My rating: 9/10.